Star Citizen's Crowdfunding-Driven Grey Market

[wraggster]

Star Citizen (http://robertsspaceindustries.com/) has broken all the crowdfunding records (http://slashdot.org/topic/bi/how-kickstarter-upended-the-gaming-industry/), raising almost 25 million dollars in the last year to fund Chris Roberts' promise of the ultimate spaceship game. However, an investigation sheds light on a murky secondary market where items are being resold by investors for profit (http://themittani.com/features/star-citizens-grey-market), all for a game that won't be fully released for two years. The standard crowdfunding tactic of rewarding early backers has created a tiered system with ample room for profiteering, profits which many not be shared with the developers. Few things would please me more than Star Citizen succeeding, but backers should read this article before being tempted to trade up their internet spaceships through a third party.
http://games.slashdot.org/story/13/10/25/1856252/star-citizens-crowdfunding-driven-grey-market